Lost in the Academy
by garlandfruit
Summary: Young Kicker gets lost in the Autobot Academy after being sucked into a spacebridge... Rating high for safety


_Disclaimer:I don't own transformers or anything else you can recognize. What's mine is the plot, I give credit where credit is due_

Kicker was four and a half years old. He was getting close to certain Autobots, but he was a shy kid. Kicker said goodbye to Optimus as he entered a spacebridge, leading to the Autobot Academy he'd visit today.

Kicker accidentally got sucked in. He was in the hallways. Optimus had turned a corner and Kicker had lost him. Kicker felt his heart drop, his soft call lost in the grand size of the halls. He held onto his toy elephant as he wandered the giant halls, already scared and lonely.

The bell rang. Recruits flooded the halls as Kicker hid under a locker.

The bell rang again minutes later as most made it to class on time.

Kicker would have to hide each time he had a chance to meet someone since it was during the time the halls were packed, and he didn't want crushed.

Hours passed of wondering the halls in this fashion. He was hungry, lost, tired, and most of all scared. The Autobots should miss him by now. He had gotten stuck on a small nail under the dirty lockers thanks to his Med-Alert bracelet, and his arm got scratched as he freed himself. He was thankful he still had his bracelet on.

A bunch of tardy femmes were heading down the hallway.

"HEY! Wait up!" he cried out, hoping they could help him.

"He's simply adorable! I thought our teacher was trying to fool us when he said humans really are the size of the hologram he showed us." A femme crooned.

"He's even smaller. He must be young." Another femme added in a cooing voice.

"Hello cutie pie. Are you lost?" another femme asked sounding like a kid and a lost puppy.

"Yes. My friend is here to give a speech, and I accidentally fell into the spacebridge. We got separated, and I'm sure my presence is being missed at Base. Can you help me find him?" He asked, feeling scared, lost, and utterly alone.

"Yes, but it'll take you awhile to get there on those little legs. Let us help you get there."

A femme said holding out a hand for him to hop into. He did.

He was carried to the human biology class, and the class seemed quite intrigued by his presence.

He was handed to the teacher, and he looked like he was ready to cry.

"Hey there, Cirvil tells me your lost. Why are you here?" the teacher said as Kicker refused to let him see to his wound, or read his bracelet.

"I accidentally got sucked into the bridge when my friend came here. He here to give a speech of some sort… I got super lost in those big halls… I want my Daddy and Mommy." He said looking at the teacher, bursting into tears.

The teacher scanned the bracelet, and began reassuring the young human as he saw to the boy's wounds. The teacher managed to hush the boy, reassuring him that he'd be taken care of until they found his parents and everything was going to be alright as he cleaned the wound. The boy sat there, letting the elder bot take care of him.

Once he had settled down enough, the teacher found out Kicker's name, his sister's name, and that the elephant was called Ellie. He even found out Kicker's age. He had found out about Kicker getting stuck, and that the friend who had sucked him in the portal without knowing it he called "Oppie," because he can't say Oppie's first name yet. All in all, so far the teacher had gotten his trust, but not much information.

He had noticed a detail on the small Med-Alert bracelet. It had his basic medical information, but the information on his identity was accidentally scratched off when he had gotten stuck under a locker.

The teacher, after spending about the first ten minutes of class taking care of Kicker, held him in a way that was reassured the human as he turned around to the class. "Alright class, we will do today's lesson about reproduction tomorrow. Today we'll learn about human young instead, along with a review of Human anatomy."

After eating his fill, it was time for Kicker to clean up. (he had gotten quite dirty when hiding between bells earlier. He had washed his hands and face almost immediately after arriving to the class.)

He was shy, but like most little kids his age, he didn't mind having adult supervision while bathing and the Autobots had bathed him before.

He seemed oblivious to the students watching as the instructor oversaw his bath. He sat in a container full of bubbly warm water on a desk surrounded by the whole class. He even played with a couple of the bots.

After his bath, he got dressed (with a little bit of help) in a shirt that was way too big for him and went past his feet. It was big enough for his dad to wear, but he was young enough he didn't care. His clothes had been washed, and were now drying. He looked at the plastic manikins on the students desks curiously.

"Why are there manikins on your desks?"

"We were playing doctor when you came in. Do you like to play doctor at home?"

Kicker eyes lit up as he nodded. But they dimmed as a thought hit him.

"But your toys seem a bit too real… At home we play pretend with fake stuff, your stuff looks like the stuff you see at the doctor's office, and they give you shots there…"

The teacher laughed.

"We are going to play pretend here too. I promise, we won't give you a shot. How about we be the doctor first, and then you can have a turn if you want one. Okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay."

He sat still, occasionally tickled by the warm metal of the stethoscopes. They listened to his heart beat, listened to his lungs, and took his blood pressure. They stuck a thermometer in his ear and took his temperature. They even checked his ears a couple of times.

The 25 students in the room had split up into five groups, and took notes as they took turns "playing doctor" with the young human. While "playing," a group had asked him about the bracelet.

"I wear the bracelet because Daddy says it has information in case something bad happens and they need to know I'm allergic to bee stings, peanuts, and Aspirin…"

In the end, Kicker even got a turn and listened to the Teacher's spark beat. He couldn't count it, but it was neat to listen to. He gave a little yawn, and asked if he could be set down.

The teacher set him down and gave him a green blanket.

"Are you tired?"

Kicker shook his head 'no,' and set down the big blanket.

He listened to the teacher have the class review human anatomy, watching the students raise there hands and answer questions as he held his toy elephant.

"What does the human cardiovascular system do?"

Kicker raised his hand. He knew this one.

The teacher smiled and asked him if he knew the answer.

"It makes your heart beat." Kicker answered.

"What does that do?" The teacher asked, his tone saying it was okay if Kicker couldn't answer and he was glad Kicker knew that much.

"It makes blood move."

"Is that it?" He asked in that same tone, a soft smile confirming his feelings.

"I think…"

"Ironhide, does it do anything else?" The teacher said looking at the mech.

Ironhide nodded and gave the teacher a summary of the system that was simple, short, but still over Kicker's head with all the big scientific words he used.

After that he just watched the class. He dozed off, sleeping on the desk holding his elephant close.

A student quietly interrupted the teacher to tell him that the youngster was sleeping. The teacher looked back and saw Kicker was out of it. He smiled as he got out a cot from a drawer and tucked in the boy.

He awoke about an hour later to find he was in a cot, tucked in under a warm blanket. Classical music played, and the teacher was watching him and his students. They were reading data-pads quietly.

He tried to worm out of the tight tuck, but it was too tight. "Did I tuck you in too tight? Here, let me help you." The teacher said as he loosened his covers. Kicker got out of bed and stretched.

Kicker looked at the students curiously.

"I don't even know your name Mister, but you've helped me out a lot today…"

"My name is Giallus Tribonius. I teach here, and everyone calls me professor Giallus. These are my students. Class, why don't you introduce yourselves to our guest."

"My name is Ironhide."

"I'm Nova."

Each student introduced themselves in a friendly fashion.

As the students read their data-pads, Kicker played up front with a Data-pad, doodling away. About ten minutes later, the loud bell would startle him. Trebonius calmed him. When his clothes dried, he changed again.

He would spend even more time at the school, being taken care of while they tried to find his home. He brought much joy, and even sat in for one of each class besides Trebonius's before falling asleep during a video in Science that had fascinated him only minutes earlier. Kicker had met basically the whole school.

He even ate lunch with them, and impressed them with his manners. He had impressed the math and science teachers with the nifty rhymes that the omnicons had taught him, he had already memorized the hardest parts of their curriculums before he could count past ten.

He awoke in Professor Trebonius's class. "Good morning little one."

"Shouldn't that speech for the school have happened already or be happening soon?"

"No. Optimus had arrived and had to leave because base had been attacked just minutes after he arrived little one. The pep rally had to be delayed due to the attack and an Amber Alert for a Chester Jones. How did you know about it?"

"They're looking for me? Are my Parents and Sally Okay?" he asked, the worry on his face apparent.

"I'm sure they are. So you're the … The picture was lost in transmission… But how do you know about the meeting and Optimus speaking for the school?"

"Oppie talked about it at home before he left base and I accidentally got sucked in after. He didn't know I was with him, and I got lost. My mommy, daddy, Sally, and I live on base with the Autobots."

The teacher's face showed a mix of emotions that he may have found Kicker's home.

He composed himself and let Kicker see his face.

"I've got a phone call to make. If you need anything, just ask any of the students."

He came back half an hour later with Optimus Prime in tail. Kicker was playing catch with the class (who was all too happy fro the chance to play in class and not do an assignment, like I know I would be! )

"Oppie!" Kicker said happy to see him.

Optimus laughed, relief was on his face.

"Kicker. Thank primus you are alright. You had us worried sick."

He picked up the human and held him close.

"Thank you, Giallus. And I think if the student body is still feeling up to it, I would still gladly speak to them like I was before events made me reschedule."

The students cheered.

Optimus smiled back, and before long Kicker was held close to Optimus as he stood in front of the whole school.

He felt scared in front of that many, even though he had gotten to know most of the academy in one day. A cheerful uproar made Kicker bury his face into Optimus's face and the leader stroked his arm comfortably.

He gave a speech that brought up pep and thanked the school for taking care of Kicker and sending out a FOUND CHILD report to all bases.

Kicker had said only two soft words. "Thank you." But they were enough. More than enough, in fact.

Going back to base was bliss for Kicker and his family.

His parents (and little Sally,) had wrapped him in a group hug and covered him in kisses.

That night, after everybody got in their hugs/kisses, Optimus had written personal thank-you letters with pictures of Kicker and his family getting back together. His parents, kicker, and even Sally signed them under Optimus's signatures. Kicker and sally even put there hands in ink and left handprints.

Years later, in Kicker's period of teen angst, Optimus asked one day.

"Kicker, do you remember the Autobot Academy?"

"It's where Ironhide went to school and he had talked about a couple of times…"

"You've probably forgotten. You were about four and a half at the time…"

"What?"

"I've got a story for you, and I'd like to ask that you accept their invitation to come and speak…"

Optimus told him the whole story, and Kicker laughed.

"Sure… Who else is going to speak?"

"I'm not going to be able to make it, but StrongArm and Ironhide are going too. It's in three days."

THREE DAYS LATER

Kicker sat on Ironhide's shoulder as they stood beside StrongArm.

An edited video was showed, and he remembered none of it happening.

When it came Kicker's turn to speak, he was glad he and Ironhide had rehearsed it.

_Next Chapter- Kicker gives his speech. How do things work out? Read and Review!_


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